Samsung's Radical New Smartphone Camera Could Be Headed For Galaxy S9

Samsung’s latest smartphone is a curious mix of high-end flagship specs and old-school flip phone ergonomics, but one standout feature drops a big hint at what we can expect to see in the forthcoming Galaxy S9 - the camera.

Announced last Friday in Xiamen China, the W2018 is the latest in Samsung’s ‘W’ range of premium clamshell-style handsets. While its design, exclusivity and price will gain little more than niche appeal, its camera features specs beyond any currently available in a smartphone and could, if current rumours are true, find its way into the forthcoming Galaxy S9.

Samsung

Samsung's W2018 features a unique camera.

Featuring a f/1.5 aperture, the W2018’s lens is not only the brightest ever of its size to find its way into a smartphone but also offers a variable aperture.

When there’s enough light available, the lens can ‘stop down’ to f/2.4, enabling more of the image to be brought into focus and potentially increasing sharpness and contrast at the same time. I say potentially, as this is what generally happens with much larger SLR lenses: wider apertures let in more light but typically produce less sharp and less contrasty images than narrower ones. A stop down to f/2.4 could be especially useful in very brightly lit conditions.

The variable aperture can be seen in action in this video clip from Weibo user Jason Xi.

The real-world effects of such an aperture change on a relatively tiny smartphone camera are yet to be seen. Especially as the range of available apertures is so narrow and therefore wouldn’t allow for super-long exposures or starburst effects, which typically require much smaller apertures.

However, introducing complex moving parts into a lens is no minor undertaking and would have to deliver significant improvements to warrant the significant costs which would be incurred in both materials and R&D. The lens is backed by a 12-megapixel sensor and features optical image stabilization.

Other specs include twin 4.2-in Full-HD AMOLED displays and a Snapdragon 835 chipset with 6GB of RAM. It is available with either 64GB or 256GB of storage. Rather less impressive is its rather puny 2,300mAh battery and Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system installed at launch.

If the new camera tech isn’t enough to tempt you, then perhaps the exclusive VIP hotline and concierge services at airports and railway stations might be enough to tip the balance. Pricing has not yet been announced, but expect it to be high, and don’t expect to find one on sale in the USA as it’s made in exclusive partnership with Telecom China.

For the rest of us, the soonest we’re likely to see such a camera is in the forthcoming Galaxy S9.